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Manchester City Council MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL REPORT FOR RESOLUTION COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE DATE 21 NOVEMBER 2007 SUBJECT LOCAL NATURE RESERVE DECLARATION: BOGGART HOLE CLOUGH AND HIGHFIELD COUNTRY PARK REPORT OF HEAD OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES HEAD OF LEISURE AND SPORTS PURPOSE OF REPORT To seek the approval of the Executive Committee to declare two sites in Manchester, Boggart Hole Clough and Highfield Country Park, as Local Nature Reserves. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. To declare the area shown outlined on the “Location map of Boggart Hole Clough” (Appendix 1) as the Boggart Hole Clough Local Nature Reserve. 2. To declare the area shown outlined on the “Location map of Highfield Country Park” (Appendix 2) as the Highfield Country Park Local Nature Reserve. Financial Consequences for the Revenue Budget The proposal has no implications for the City Council’s revenue budget. Financial Consequences for the Capital Budget The proposal has no implications for the City Council’s capital budget. Contact Officers Rachel Christie – Head of Environmental Services 800 4916 [email protected] Eamonn O’Rourke – Head of Leisure and Sports 878 2451 e.o’[email protected] Sarah Davies – Green City Project Director 800 3361 [email protected] Jon Follows – Green City Project Officer 800 1869 [email protected] Background Documents The Boggart Hole Clough and Highfield Country Park Management Plans are available from Room 6019 in the Town Hall Extension. Wards Affected Charlestown Levenshulme Implications for: Anti poverty Equal Opportunities Environment Employment No No Yes No 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 On the 13th April 2005, the Executive Committee approved and adopted the Manchester Biodiversity Strategy. Objective 2 within the strategy states that actions should ‘use a best practice approach when managing for biodiversity’. One of the key ways to achieving this objective is to increase the number of Local Nature Reserves in Manchester. The strategy proposes that further sites will be designated as Local Nature Reserves over the next five years. 1.2 There are currently four Local Nature Reserves in Manchester – Chorlton Water Park, Blackley Forest, Clayton Vale and Chorlton Ees & Ivy Green. All the sites have benefited from the designation and had lead to increased public usage by local and regional visitors. These sites have also obtained national recognitions with Natural England and other nature conservation organisations. 2 WHAT ARE LOCAL NATURE RESERVES? 2.1 Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) are sites that contain wildlife and/or geological features that are of special interest locally. Their function is to provide opportunities for people to become involved in the management of their local environment as well as giving people special opportunities to study, learn or simply enjoy nature. 2.2 Declaring sites as LNRs plays an important role in biodiversity conservation. LNRs will offer many benefits not only to wildlife but also to the quality of life for the people of Manchester. The benefits of LNRs can be summarised as: - Protection of wildlife habitats and natural features Increased community awareness and enjoyment of the natural environment through greater involvement Provision of an environment in which people can learn about and study nature Building relationships between local authorities, national and local conservation bodies and local people 2.3 Local authorities have the power to acquire, declare and manage LNRs. To establish a LNR, the local authority must have or must acquire a legal interest in the land. The sites selected so far for designation have been chosen due to their rich flora and fauna and strong “Friends of...” groups. The guidance to declare LNRs is that they should generally be greater than 2ha in size and capable of being managed primarily for nature conservation so that there are special opportunities for study, research or enjoyment of nature. They should also meet one of the following: of high natural interest locally of some reasonable natural interest and of high value locally for formal education or research of some reasonable natural interest and of high value locally for the informal enjoyment of nature by the public 2.4 Local authorities are advised to consult with Natural England informally at an early stage and must consult formally when Council approval has been granted. Natural England is the Government agency that supports and advises on the conservation of wildlife and geology. They are key in the process of designating LNRs. 2.5 LNRs are protected from unsuitable development through the planning system. Policy E2 (To Safeguard the City’s Environment) of the Manchester’s Unitary Development Plan and national Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation, set out how the City Council as Local Planning Authority should consider planning applications which affect a LNR. 2.6 Following on from the Local Quality of Life Indicators published jointly by the Audit Commission, DEFRA and ODPM in August 2005, Natural England recommends that people living in towns and cities should have statutory LNRs provided at a minimum level of 1 ha per 1,000 population. Manchester’s target is therefore 440 ha. The reason for this is to try to ensure that all communities have reasonable access to natural environments near to where they live. If Boggart Hole Clough and Highfield Country Park are both designated as LNRs then Manchester will increase its coverage from 149.9 ha to 256.8 ha. 3 BOGGART HOLE CLOUGH 3.1 Boggart Hole Clough contains the largest woodland Clough in Manchester, with its parkland forming a landscape of mature woodland, grasslands and lakes in the Charlestown ward. It is 75.9 hectares in size and is managed by Manchester Leisure. 3.2 Parts of the woodland are classed as Ancient, and is covered on both sides with trees and shrubs in vibrant colours including heaths and rhododendrons. On the banks of the brook flowing through the Clough there is an excellent collection of aquatic and moisture loving plants. 3.3 Thirty-six hectares have been identified as a Site of Biological Importance, providing a valuable habitat for a wide range of animal and plant species. 3.4 There is a very active “Friends of...” group which meets every Saturday to carry out various conservation tasks. 4 HIGHFIELD COUNTRY PARK 4.1 Highfield Country Park is an area of urban countryside set just over 31 hectares of open space in the Levenshulme Ward. The park is managed by Manchester Leisure. 4.2 Highfield Park comprises of different types of grassland, marshy grassland, scrub, wet woodland, ponds, relict hedges and plantation woodland. Fallowfield Brook also runs through the site. A network of formal paths and desire lines cross the Park. 4.3 Highfield Country Park has dedicated community groups with the “Friends of...” group working on the site and encouraging the local school, St Andrew’s Church of England, to be more involved. 4.4 A number of adjoining owners to the south-west of the park appear to have incorporated park land into their gardens. Whilst this issue is being resolved, it is not intended to include these areas in the LNR. Once the boundary is finalised, it would be possible to incorporate such areas into the LNR, by a revised declaration at a later date. 5 THE FUTURE 5.1 The designation of LNR status for Boggart Hole Clough and Highfield Country Park would help to establish the long-term maintenance and raise the profile of both sites. These designations will also offer opportunities for funding as it reinforces Manchester’s commitment to nature conservation and recreation. 5.2 Natural England has confirmed their informal support for the declaration of the LNR status. If the Executive approves the declarations, the management plans will be referred to Natural England for formal consultation. These sites will, at the earliest opportunity, be marked as LNRs on the revised Local Development Plan for the City of Manchester. 5.3 As mentioned in 2.6, we aim to ensure that in future, as many people across Manchester as possible have easy access to natural environment sites. This is part of an ongoing programme, and future sites under consideration for Local Nature Reserves declaration represent an even spread across the City include: Broadhurst Clough (Moston ward) Sunbank Wood (Woodhouse Park ward) Harpurphey reservoirs (Harpurphey ward) Fletcher Moss (Didsbury East ward) APPENDIX 1 Location map of Boggart Hole Clough APPENDIX 2 Location map of Highfield Country Park .
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